Finding Sam
by NonyMouse
Summary: In order to save Sam after the trials, Dean agrees to let a magically resurrected Gabriel send Sam's soul to an alternate universe. Sam's not so sure he's happy with this development.


**AN:** This takes place right at the end of Season 8, when Sam is dying in the mud and the angels have just fallen. I haven't actually watched much of season 9, so I'm pretending it doesn't exist in this universe. For the sake of the story, Castiel was also nearby to Sam and Dean when the angels fell. Please let me me know what you think, and if I should continue this!

"Yeah, so how do we fucking help him?"

Dean Winchester was nearing the end of his rope. Cas had lost his grace and couldn't help Sam, who was _dying_ (_he couldn't die now, not after everything they'd been through_). Gabriel (yes, the _dead_ archangel) had turned up out of fucking nowhere shortly after Cas helped Dean drag Sam off the muddy ground and into the Impala's backseat, but he was no help. He just kept rattling on about how Sam always had been a sacrificial idiot, and had they really expected a task from his Father to end in anything _other_ than a death sentence?

"I'm getting to that part," Gabriel said, not seeming the least bit perturbed by Dean's near frothing rage and fear.

"Get there faster," Dean growled, hands fluttering nervously around his brother's prone body.

Gabriel's next words chilled Dean right to his bones, freezing him in place. "There's no known cure for this sort of thing, and finding, or making, one will take longer than your brother has left."

Dean stared at Sam. His little brother wasn't supposed to go out this way. Ever since that night when his mother burned on the ceiling and his father shoved a too calm six-month old into his arms, it had been Dean's job to watch out for Sammy. He had failed so many times since then, he didn't even know how many second chances he had been given by now, but Sammy always came back to him and gave him one more shot. Now, all the angels, except the one asshole archangel who was supposed to be dead but inexplicably wasn't, were powerless, and even said asshole archangel could not help. Given that it was an act of god killing Sammy, there would be no miracles from that corner, either, Dean guessed.

The tears were already dripping to the ground before Dean realized he was crying. "Damn it, Sammy," he said, voice soft and choked with grief. "You're not supposed to die." He swept his arm roughly across his face, hating the wetness that smeared across his cheeks. "You should've let me protect you."

Gabriel huffed behind him, and when he turned his head, the archangel was glaring. "You haven't been listening to me at all, have you?" And the fucking bastard had no right to sound so put out with him when Sammy was dying right there and they couldn't stop it, so Dean did what he did best.

He punched the fucker in the face.

"Ow goddamn it!" Of course Gabriel was still an angel, so punching him was about as effective as punching a cinderblock wall. Possibly less effective.

"Are you feeling better now?" Gabriel didn't give Dean a chance to reply to the snarky question, just continued talking. "We can't cure Sam with anything known right now, but there is a way to stop him from dying long enough for us to find something new."

That caught Dean's attention.

"We can send his soul to some other universe over which my father does not reign. I can keep his body alive while the other universe will keep his soul safe, and we can take as much time as we need to find a cure. Then, once we've got a cure, we just have to pull him back in and bam! Sammy's safe." Gabriel grinned and snapped his fingers. Dean was a little bit surprised that nothing exploded.

"Another universe?" he asked, skepticism dripping from his words. "You mean like that crazy-ass tv land from a few years ago?"

"Nah, that was just a bunch of my own constructs keeping you trapped, not an actual other universe," Gabriel said.

Before Dean could correct him, Castiel stepped in, finally speaking. "I believe Dean is referring to a universe that I sent him and Sam to when I was… unwell." He shifted uncomfortably on the last word.

"So, you guys already know the drill? Great!"

"I did not separate their souls with the spell that I used," Cas said, giving his brother what Dean thought looked suspiciously like a warning glare.

"Well, it's not _that_ much different," Gabriel said, wearing his trickster grin. Dean didn't trust that grin as far as - fuck it, he didn't trust that grin _anywhere_, but especially not near Sam. Still, it wasn't like he had a whole lot of options.

"You sure this is safe?"

"It's safer than leaving him here."

"Then do it."

* * *

Sam was barely aware of anything that was going on around him. Snatches of conversation filtered through, and Dean's eyes, bright and green and _worried_ always seemed to be fixed on him whenever he managed to open his.

After what felt like a few moments wrapped around an eternity, a new voice filtered through his consciousness, and he was barely aware of Dean arguing with someone oddly familiar. The next sensation to make it through his flickering senses was the feel of fingers against his forehead and a cool voice whispering words that rocked through him like the ocean and burned like the stars.

White light flooded through him, and something deep within _wrenched_. He was barely aware of screaming before everything went finally, completely dark.


End file.
